History

The 13th-century temple in located in the north-east part of the town, on a square adjacent to the marketplace. Originally, it was a wooden church with a churchyard. The archaeological examination carried out in the 20th century confirmed the presence of a mediaeval burial ground and the most recent study (2009) has shown multilayer burials around the church. The cemetery was liquidated in 1750 due to the increasing epidemiological risk. A new cemetery was set up in the west part of the town, at St Hedwiga’s Church.The wave of Reformation reached Byczyna in the 1530s. The Evangelical community took over St Nicholas Church in 1556 and has maintained it until today (except for the years 1694-1707). At the end of the 14th century, a new brick church replaced the former wooden structure. Between 1886 and 1888, the temple was rebuilt: the tower got a neo-Gothic finishing and the north porch and chapel new gables.

After WW2, the church became a filial temple of the the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Wołczyn. The church crypts are a resting place for Prince Maximilian von Württemberg (died 1710), the Frankenberg family members and the local pastors Opollius and Kośny.

Description

The Gothic basilica consists of a three-aisle body, tower, straight terminated chancel and annexes: one-storey sacristy, St Hedwig’s Chapel and two porches. The church is a brick structure, with stone at the base, reinforced with buttresses. It is covered with a gable roof and an ave-bell turret. The four-storey tower houses the main entrance to the church through a stone pointed-arch portal. The south wall of the chancel exhibits a stone plaque with the letters A.M. and J.M. and the date 1709, probably referring to past renovations.

The interior is vaulted. The nave is open to the chancel with an ogival arcade of the rood beam; in the west part, there is a stone choir with a wooden gallery underneath. The rib vaulting in the chancel and nave are rested on consoles in the form of masks.

The uniform neo-Gothic equipment and decor go back to the restoration works in the 1880s. It includes: the main altar, pulpit under the rood wall, organ casing (1584) and stone font. Along three chancel walls, there are seats with high, tracery-decorated backs with the portraits of the Byczyna pastors. The chancel also houses two-row stalls with rich woodcarving.

The monument is available to visitors.

Compiled by Joanna Szot, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 01-10-2014 r.

Bibliography

• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, t. VII: Województwo opolskie, z. 4: Powiat kluczborski, oprac. T. Chrzanowski, A. Ciechanowiecki, Warszawa 1966.
• Kreuzburg. Stadt und Kreis in Oberschlesien. Geschichte und Erinnerung, Bearb. R. Dette, Duderstadt 1990.
• Przysiężna-Pizarska M., Wojtyra D., Wstępne sprawozdanie z prac archeologicznych w obrębie inwestycji na terenie Byczyny, pow. Kluczbork, [w:] Opolski Informator Konserwatorski, red. I. Solisz, Opole 2010, s. 71-84.
• Lutsch H., Verzeichnis der Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Schlesien, Bd. 4: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Reg.-Bezirks Oppeln, Tl. 1, Breslau 1890.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warszawa 2006.